


Next to Nothing

by TwistedViolets



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Four & Two play cops and robbers, Four makes a mess, Grace is introduced to the children, Kinda?, Klaus centric, Nanny Susan is not pleased, Numbers as Names, Reggie is a good dad for once, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Two is a stuttering mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21689443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedViolets/pseuds/TwistedViolets
Summary: Reginald is sick and has holed himself up in his room, leaving the care of his soldiers in the hands of nannies. They have complaints about little Number Four.Four however, believes himself a child worthy of making mistakes.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 117





	Next to Nothing

**Author's Note:**

> I found this in my old folders and decided to upload it. I wasn’t really sure how to summarize it because it doesn’t really follow a theme. I think it’s a little cringy but I enjoyed rereading it nonetheless.

At one point he had only been know as Number Four. It wasn't really that far ago. He was young and still relied on his father to do his thinking for him.

He didn't mind the name at first, nobody minded. It was just a name and when you're young you don't care. It's only when you grow up that you started to noticed the heartlessness behind it.

————————————————————

"S-stop it" Two tried to speak in his most grown-up voice he could manage. It wasn't bad but it couldn't be convincing when he stuttered so much.

"I'll never stop!" He gave his best evil laugh and jumped off the backyard bench. He landed in front of Two and flicked his forehead. "Gotcha!"

He ran away and Two followed yelling about how he cheated. He runs in circles with his brother chasing him until he runs out of breath and is forced to stop. Two bumps into him and he's a panting mess too.

"C-Caught you...cri-criminal."

He laughs before pushing Two and running away again. "No you haven't!" He yells and Two chases him again. He runs in through the backdoor and slams straight into Susan, a nanny so to speak.

Susan had been taking a tray of food to his father since he's sick and it included tea. Tea that had been contained in a glass cup that shattered when it hit the floor. She looks at the mess on the floor; shattered glass, a puddle of tea, syrup, and crumpled pancakes.

"Look what you've done!" She gasps out and her eyes keep scanning over the mess. "Four how many times have I told you no running in the house?" 

"Sorry, mam!" 

"A sorry isn't going to fix this mess!" Susan grabs his arm and not so gently guides him.

"Hey-y... um, it's my-my fa-fault too!" Two tries to reason with her but she didn't want to hear him. She brushes him off and he's forced to stay behind while he's guided into his father's room.

Susan opens the door and he sees his father in bed, writing in a journal. It seems like his father was always writing something down. His father's seemingly good mood was ruined when he saw Susan without food but him instead.

His father brings his hand up and massages his forehead before addressing them. "Now what has Four done?" He waits for her to respond and oh does she.

Susan tells his father that he's just such an unruly child and he ruins everything including his father's breakfast. His father just sits and listens to her rant and rave digging his already dug grave for him.

He can't even believe it's even possible for someone other than his father to not understand that he's a child. Children aren't perfect. She and his father have to be the same breed of people.

When Susan is done ruining his life she's red in the face. His father narrows his eyes at her accusingly.

"Just what are you trying to say?"

He feels all warm and fuzzy inside for a second because his father is defending him. "He's got terrible manners and he can't sit still to save his life." She pulls his hand and forces him into the spotlight.

"He never listens to anything I say!"

"So? Are you trying to blame his incompetence on me?" His father plants his feet on the floor and stands up. He's livid in more ways than one. He doesn't think he should need to defend himself. 

His bad manners aren't due to his father's parenting. At least his father doesn’t think so.

Susan immediately tries to backtrack but it's too late for that.

"I truly enjoyed your company but I must ask that you leave," His father whispers it soft so that it seems like he isn't mad but he is. He specializes in silence anger.

Susan bows and walks away clearly knowing she's already lost. It would be a losing battle if she had tried to fight it. His father has no mercy to shower on anyone.

His father looks at him and ruffles his hair. It's a slow steady movement his body associates with praise.

It only lasts a split second before his father returns to bed. He begins to write in his journal, again. 

He stands there. Cold creeping up from the floor and infusing itself in his skin.

"Sorry," He cast his eyes to the ground, waiting for his father to say something, anything. It's too quiet. 

Why isn't he being yelled at too?

"Do you require something of me?" His father asks, his eyes are unmoving from his journal. 

He shakes his head. 

A small wave is all he gets to indicate that he's dismissed.

————————————————————

The next day his father kicks out all the nannies or they all quit. Either way, there are none left to accuse him of something stupid and none left to feed him.

"This is Grace," His father introduces the...new nanny? He isn't sure what she supposed to be but she reminds him of his other care takers. Always wearing a apron and sticking close to the kitchen. 

"She from this moment forward will be your mother."

_Mother_

The word echos in his ears, in his mind, just bouncing around inside. It sounds so unnatural it just won't stick.

"Nice to meet you," Grace says, his new caretaker, his...mother. She smiles at him before addressing the other siblings. 

Seven looks away with a look of displeasure on her face. It's as if she already hates their mother.

His father slips out of the room.

"You're all so cute," His mother coos as she wraps a hand around them and brings them close together. 

"M...Moth-mother," Diego stutters, his face tinting red as they are smothered. 

"That's so adorable!"

"It is n-not."

She is a nice woman. She exudes warmth and forces a fuzzy feeling to grow in his heart. Grace hasn't called them childish yet or told them how much of a mistake they are.

She thinks they are cute.

He smiles as she lets go of them.

"What's your name?" She asks them with joy in her voice.

"Four," he replies in the sea of numbers.

"Oh," she tilts her head to the side as she furrows her eyebrows. "That just won't do," she shakes her head, frowning. "You are all too cute to not have proper names..."

She pats each of their heads before kissing their foreheads. That was the first forehead kiss he ever received.


End file.
